Medicated Chick feed

[pkeeler]

This thread has gotten lost. There was nothing in the original post about the chickens having cocci or being sick in the least. She is running out of feed and wanted to know if it was ok to stop with medicated feed. Rather than tying the answer to some arbitrary date, the idea is that when they leave the brooder (and the more crowded conditions), for the coop is as good a time as any to switch.

Cocci should not be a big deal in small backyard flocks. The commercial recommendations are for more industrial raising conditions. I use medicated feed because either I can't find any other chick starter, or it doesn't cost more (which makes it cheap insurance). But I doubt it is necessary in the conditions 95% of people on this site keep their chickens in.

 

[chickerdoodle]

Be sure you have enough of the chicken starter to mix with new feed (slowly increase new feed each day and decrease what you are using now) for a week or so to prevent stress.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
I imagine the point in mentioning the cocci was that unless they've been on the ground on the medicated starter they haven't had a chance to build any immunity to the cocci "bugs" that would be in the dirt.

 

[JayDe]

At what age does layer feed NOT have too much Calcium? If we take them off the medicated by 12 weeks, do we feed them non medicated chick feed for the next 5 weeks and THEN switch to layer, or can I feed them the layer this early? Just curious as I have medicated chick feed and layer only and my babies on the porch are 12 weeks now. I can always go get unmedicated in a smaller bag if need be, but I figured I could just feed until I run out (they'll PROBABLY be 14 weeks) and then switch to layer?

 

[pkeeler]

I imagine the point in mentioning the cocci was that unless they've been on the ground on the medicated starter they haven't had a chance to build any immunity to the cocci "bugs" that would be in the dirt.

Ok. But unless there is a flock of adult birds already present, naturally occuring cocci probably are not present in significant numbers. Medicated feed doesn't eliminate coccia, so the birds will have some immunity since coccia are present everywhere (in small amounts) and the birds will come in contact with some through feces. An adult flock on litter that has been in place for more than 6 months should pose no risk, as the litter is anti-coccidial at that point.

Weeks 3 to 8, seem to be the worse times when young birds are big enough to defecate in larger amounts but have not built immunity possibly. But, if you give birds adequate space and keep the litter dry, cocci should not be threatening.

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/coccidiosis.html#lifecycle​

 

[pkeeler]

At what age does layer feed NOT have too much Calcium? If we take them off the medicated by 12 weeks, do we feed them non medicated chick feed for the next 5 weeks and THEN switch to layer, or can I feed them the layer this early? Just curious as I have medicated chick feed and layer only and my babies on the porch are 12 weeks now. I can always go get unmedicated in a smaller bag if need be, but I figured I could just feed until I run out (they'll PROBABLY be 14 weeks) and then switch to layer?

You could mix them 50/50; that will mitigate the calcium content of the layer while adding a bit more protein. Unless you have months of feed on hand, you will have to buy another bag. I'd buy one bag of unmedicated chick, medicated chick, chicken grower, or turkey grower. You can cut that with layer to make it last longer. By then, layer will not be a problem.

If they free range and there is stuff to eat (i.e. not dead of winter), then you can probably just feed layer as they are not consuming it solely. I've fed hen raised chicks layer pellets from birth in a free range situation (but during the Spring).

Remember, a lot of information on feeding was developed for caged meat and layer birds. Chickens with options will do a pretty good job of mitigating feed inbalances.​

 

[JayDe]

Thanks pkeeler

They only get out a couple hours a day at most..none in this weather (don't know how you northerners do it!) so I'll break down and buy another small bag when this one gets close to out.

 

[speckledhen]

But, if you give birds adequate space and keep the litter dry, cocci should not be threatening.

That is not necessarily true, though. They can get cocci even in the best of conditions if it's in the soil. And brooder raised babies are more prone to it when they hit the ground and suddenly are overwhelmed by the oocycts in the soil. I keep my brooders and grow out coops much cleaner than most folks seem to; couldn't get any cleaner unless I ran around with a pooper scooper to catch the poop as they drop it, LOL. They still get cocci. The little ones who get small doses of "dirt" when running around with broodies seem to avoid cocci most of the time.

The point of mentioning cocci is that this is why most people are concerned about their chick starter being medicated. I wanted to make sure it was understood that even medicated feed may not help much with cocci, so it really doesn't matter if it's medicated or not. Guess I wasn't plain enough.​

 

[crazyforfeatheredfriends]

Quote:
Good point, thank you very much, so I will go ahead and get a small bag of medicated to gradually transition to the non-medicated. I HAVE to go to the feed store tomorrow or I'll have some hungry birds!